By NITZ ARANCON Correspondent MAYOR Oscar Moreno over the weekend blamed some of the land disputes in the city on politicians whom he said encouraged poverty stricken families to build their homes on properties with claimants, and then gave them false hopes. Moreno said the problem on informal settlers is a social problem his administration inherited from the city’s former leaders. He named his 2013 rival, ex-mayor Vicente Emano, saying the problem worsened because the former local executive promised them protection. “Dongkoy (Emano) told people then that as long as he was mayor, they would never get evicted. That was a false promise. But we know that that cannot be the case because landowners have rights, and the moment the courts upheld their rights and decide in their favor, there is nothing politicians can do,” Moreno said. He said this even as he pointed out the need for the city council to allow his administration to provide a relocation site for some 70 thousand people in the city. He said city hall needs to acquire a property for a new relocation site, and this would not be possible without the cooperation of the city council. Moreno’s pronouncements came even as Judge Gil Bollozos of the 20th branch of the Regional Trial Court directed city legal officer Donald Delegencia, lawyer and former councilor Noel Beja, and lawyer Evangeline Carrasco to submit their memoranda in connection with a petition that seeks to freeze a demolition order against residents of Purok 6 in Barangay Gusa. The lawyers were given until July 20 to comply. Delegencia earlier filed the petition on behalf of city hall that wants more time to prepare a relocation site for the affected families. Delegecia is serving as legal counsel for the affected families while Beja and Carrasco are lawyering for the heirs of the Loyola family that own the Gusa property. Bollozos issued the order after geodetic engineer Elizer Ello told the court some 43 houses were about to be demolished with a 2,000-square meter “salvage area” near the sea. The area, he said, is considered a public land because it is situated some 20 meters from the shoreline.